NBA extends television deals with ESPN and TNT

ESPN President John Skipper, right, shakes hands with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, second right, as David Levy, left, President of Turner Broadcasting System, and Ted Leonsis, second left, owner of the Washington Wizards, applaud after a deal was announced between the league and TV networks, Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 in New York. The NBA has extended its television deals with ESPN and TNT for nine years. The league announced Monday that the new contracts will run through the 2024-25 season. The previous eight-year agreements end after the 2015-16 season.

NEW YORK — The NBA and its television partners couldn't wait to extend their contracts.

The league renewed its deals with ESPN and TNT even though two seasons remain on the old ones. With potential competition from Fox looming, both networks were willing to pay generously to secure the rights long term.

The NBA's annual revenue from the agreements will increase from $930 million to more than $2.6 billion, according to a person familiar with the terms. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the league was not announcing the financial figures.

"We ultimately made a decision that this was the right time to go," Commissioner Adam Silver said at a news conference Monday. "These are extraordinary healthy deals financially."

The contracts will run an additional nine years through the 2024-25 season. The previous eight-year deals end after 2015-16.

The basics won't change: The NBA Finals remain on ABC, ESPN's broadcast partner. ESPN/ABC and TNT will continue to split the conference finals, with both networks adding extra regular-season games and expanded digital content.

Broadcasting rights fees have been skyrocketing across all sports as live events become increasingly valuable to advertisers. Few viewers will DVR an NBA game, which means they can't fast-forward through the commercials.

Last year, Fox launched a 24-hour sports cable channel, Fox Sports 1. With so many rights locked up in long-term deals, the NBA was the biggest property coming up in the more immediate future.

The league has relationships with both Fox and NBC's parent company, Comcast, which locally televise teams' games on their regional sports networks. If the national contract had gone to the open market, NBC could have pursued a return to NBA coverage to boost its 24-hour sports cable channel, NBCSN.

Silver said the league also took into consideration the potential interest of tech companies such as Google and Apple that could eventually bid on sports rights and change the model for how fans watch games.

But for the next decade and beyond, the NBA is sticking with what works.

"I don't think we left any money on the table," Silver said. "We're confident that we maximized what our opportunity was in the marketplace."